A Missense Variant in PTPN22 is a Risk Factor for Drug-induced Liver Injury

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We performed genetic analyses of a multiethnic cohort of patients with idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) to identify variants associated with susceptibility. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study of 2048 individuals with DILI (cases) and 12,429 individuals without (controls). Our analysis included subjects of European (1806 cases and 10,397 controls), African American (133 cases and 1,314 controls), and Hispanic (109 cases and 718 controls) ancestry. We analyzed DNA from 113 Icelandic cases and 239,304 controls to validate our findings. RESULTS: We associated idiosyncratic DILI with rs2476601, a nonsynonymous polymorphism that encodes a substitution of tryptophan with arginine in the protein tyrosine phosphatase, nonreceptor type 22 gene (PTPN22) (odds ratio [OR] 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-1.62; P = 1.2 x 10(-9) and replicated the finding in the validation set (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.09-1.99; P =.01). The minor allele frequency showed the same effect size (OR > 1) among ethnic groups. The strongest association was with amoxicillin and clavulanate-associated DILI in persons of European ancestry (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.32-1.98; P = 4.0 x 10(-6); allele frequency = 13.3%), but the polymorphism was associated with DILI of other causes (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.21-1.56; P = 1.5 x 10(-6); allele frequency = 11.5%). Among amoxicillin-and clavulanate-associated cases of European ancestry, rs2476601 doubled the risk for DILI among those with the HLA risk alleles A* 02: 01 and DRB1* 15: 01. CONCLUSIONS: In a genome-wide association study, we identified rs2476601 in PTPN22 as a non-HLA variant that associates with risk of liver injury caused by multiple drugs and validated our finding in a separate cohort. This variant has been associated with increased risk of autoimmune diseases, providing support for the concept that alterations in immune regulation contribute to idiosyncratic DILI.Peer reviewe

Features of Autoimmune Hepatitis in Patients With Drug-induced Liver Injury

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has features similar to those of other liver diseases including autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We aimed to characterize the clinical and autoimmune features of liver injury caused by nitrofurantoin, minocycline, methyldopa, or hydralazine. METHODS: We analyzed data from 88 cases of DILI attributed to nitrofurantoin, minocycline, methyldopa, or hydralazine included in the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network prospective study from 2004 through 2014. Sera were collected from patients at baseline and follow-up examination and tested for levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), antibodies to nuclear antigen (ANA), smooth muscle (SMA), and soluble liver antigen (SLA). An autoimmune score was derived on the basis of increases in levels of IgG, ANA, SMA, and SLA (assigned values of 0, 1+, or 2+). AIH-associated HLA-DRB1*03:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:01 allele frequencies were compared with those of the general population (controls). RESULTS: Of the 88 cases, 80 were women (91%), 74% had hepatocellular injury, and 25% had severe injury. At the onset of DILI, 39% of cases had increased levels of IgG, 72% had increased levels of ANA, 60% had increased levels of SMA, and none had increases in SLA. A phenotype of autoimmunity (autoimmune score ≥2) was observed in 82% of cases attributed to nitrofurantoin and 73% of cases attributed to minocycline (73%) but only 55% of cases attributed to methyldopa and 43% of cases attributed to hydralazine (P = .16 for nitrofurantoin and minocycline vs methyldopa and hydralazine). We observed a decrease in numbers of serum samples positive for ANA (P = .01) or SMA (P < .001) and in autoimmune scores (P < .001) between DILI onset and follow-up. Similar percentages of patients with DILI had HLA-DRB1*03:01 (15%) and HLA-DRB1*04:01 (9%) as controls (12% and 9%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In analysis of data from the DILIN prospective study, we found that most cases of DILI attributed to nitrofurantoin or minocycline and about half of cases that were due to methyldopa and hydralazine have a phenotype of autoimmunity similar to AIH. These features decrease with recovery of the injury and are not associated with the typical HLA alleles found in patients with idiopathic AIH

Causes, Clinical Features, and Outcomes From a Prospective Study of Drug-Induced Liver Injury in the United States

Background and Aims Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is among the most common causes of acute liver failure in the United States, accounting for approximately 13% of cases. A prospective study was begun in 2003 to recruit patients with suspected DILI and create a repository of biological samples for analysis. This report summarizes the causes, clinical features, and outcomes from the first 300 patients enrolled. Methods Patients with suspected DILI were enrolled based on predefined criteria and followed up for at least 6 months. Patients with acetaminophen liver injury were excluded. Results DILI was caused by a single prescription medication in 73% of the cases, by dietary supplements in 9%, and by multiple agents in 18%. More than 100 different agents were associated with DILI; antimicrobials (45.5%) and central nervous system agents (15%) were the most common. Causality was considered to be definite in 32%, highly likely in 41%, probable in 14%, possible in 10%, and unlikely in 3%. Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was the final diagnosis in 4 of 9 unlikely cases. Six months after enrollment, 14% of patients had persistent laboratory abnormalities and 8% had died; the cause of death was liver related in 44%. Conclusions DILI is caused by a wide array of medications, herbal supplements, and dietary supplements. Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause DILI. Acute HCV infection should be excluded in patients with suspected DILI by HCV RNA testing. The overall 6-month mortality was 8%, but the majority of deaths were not liver related

Concentración, segregación y movilidad residencial de los extranjeros en Barcelona

El artículo analiza la dinámica residencial de la población extranjera en la ciudad de Barcelona, considerando tres aspectos que centran su distribución: la concentración en el territorio, la segregación residencial en relación con la población de la ciudad y la movilidad residencial en interrelación con su región metropolitana. Se realiza un análisis temporal que sigue la evolución de estos elementos a lo largo de la década, con el objetivo de aportar una visión de conjunto de los cambios observados. El análisis contempla la utilización de diferentes fuentes estadísticas y detalla el comportamiento de las nacionalidades con más efectivos en Barcelona. Los resultados indican un desplazamiento de las áreas de concentración desde el centro histórico hacia la periferia de la ciudad, un descenso de la segregación vinculado a una mayor dispersión territorial y una fuerte movilidad residencial dentro de la Región Metropolitana que afecta especialmente a los municipios situados en la periferia más próxima a la ciudad.L'article analitza la dinàmica residencial de la població estrangera a la ciutat de Barcelona, considerant tres dels aspectes que en centren la distribució: la concentració en el territori, la segregació residencial en relació amb la població de la ciutat i la mobilitat residencial en interrelació amb la seva regió metropolitana. S'hi realitza una anàlisi temporal que ressegueix l'evolució d'aquests elements al llarg de la darrera dècada, amb l'objectiu d'aportar una visió de conjunt dels canvis observats. L'estudi contempla la utilització de diferents fonts estadístiques i detalla el comportament de les nacionalitats amb més efectius a Barcelona. Els resultats indiquen un desplaçament de les àrees de concentració des del centre històric cap a la perifèria de la ciutat, un descens de la segregació lligat a una dispersió territorial més gran i una forta mobilitat residencial dins de la Regió Metropolitana que afecta especialment els municipis situats a la perifèria més pròxima a la ciutat.L'article analyse la dynamique résidentielle de la population étrangère dans la ville de Barcelone en se concentrant sur trois aspects de sa distribution : la concentration sur le territoire, la ségrégation et la mobilité résidentielle au sein de la région métropolitaine. L'évolution de ces trois facteurs a été suivie pendant une décennie dans le but d'obtenir une vision globale des changements observés. Diverses sources statistiques qui détaillent le comportement des populations les plus nombreuses habitant Barcelone ont été utilisées. Les résultats montrent un déplacement des zones de concentration des étrangers depuis le centre historique vers les périphéries, une diminution de la ségrégation due à la croissante dispersion territoriale, et finalement une forte mobilité résidentielle dans la Région Métropolitaine, particulièrement dans les communes les plus proches de Barcelone.Three aspects of foreigners' residential mobility in the city of Barcelona are studied in this paper: territorial concentration, segregation and residential change within the metropolitan region. To obtain a global view, these three elements are followed for a decade. Several data bases, specifying the behaviour of major nationalities, are used. Results firstly show that foreigners are gradually moving out of the historical centre and into the periphery. Secondly, that there is a strong intra-metropolitan mobility, particularly so in the municipalities nearest to the central city. Finally, as foreigners are more widely distributed throughout the territory, they are also becoming less segregated

Features and Outcomes of 899 Patients With Drug-Induced Liver Injury: The DILIN Prospective Study

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network is conducting a prospective study of patients with DILI in the United States. We present characteristics and subgroup analyses from the first 1257 patients enrolled in the study. METHODS: In an observational longitudinal study, we began collecting data on eligible individuals with suspected DILI in 2004, following them for 6 months or longer. Subjects were evaluated systematically for other etiologies, causes, and severity of DILI. RESULTS: Among 1257 enrolled subjects with suspected DILI, the causality was assessed in 1091 patients, and 899 were considered to have definite, highly likely, or probable DILI. Ten percent of patients died or underwent liver transplantation, and 17% had chronic liver injury. In the 89 patients (10%) with pre-existing liver disease, DILI appeared to be more severe than in those without (difference not statistically significant; P = .09) and mortality was significantly higher (16% vs 5.2%; P 365 days were nitrofurantoin (25%) or minocycline (17%). There were no differences in outcomes of patients with short vs long latency of DILI. Compared with individuals younger than 65 years, individuals 65 years or older (n = 149) were more likely to have cholestatic injury, although mortality and rate of liver transplantation did not differ. Nine patients (1%) had concomitant severe skin reactions; implicated agents were lamotrigine, azithromycin, carbamazepine, moxifloxacin, cephalexin, diclofenac, and nitrofurantoin. Four of these patients died. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from DILI is significantly higher in individuals with pre-existing liver disease or concomitant severe skin reactions compared with patients without. Additional studies are needed to confirm the association between azithromycin and increased DILI in patients with chronic liver disease. Older age and short or long latencies are not associated with DILI mortality

HLA-B*14:01 and HLA-B*35:01 are associated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole induced liver injury

Background and AimTrimethoprim‐sulfamethoxazole (TMP‐SMX) is an important cause of idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (DILI), but its genetic risk factors are not well understood. We investigated the relationship between variants in the HLA Class I and II genes and well characterized cases of TMP‐SMX DILI.MethodsEuropean American and African American persons with TMP‐SMX DILI were compared to respective population controls. HLA sequencing was performed by Illumina MiSeq for cases. HLA genotype imputation with attribute bagging (HIBAG) program was used to impute HLA alleles for controls. Allele frequency difference between cases and controls was tested by Fisher exact tests per ethnic group. For European Americans, multivariable logistic regression with Firth penalization was used to test HLA allelic effect after adjusting for age and the top two principal components. Molecular docking was performed to assess the HLA binding with TMP and SMX.ResultsThe European American subset had 51 cases and 12,156 controls, while the African American subset had 10 cases and 5,439 controls. Four HLA alleles were significantly associated in the European American subset, with HLA‐B*14:01 ranking at the top (OR: 9.20, 95% CI: 3.16‐22.35, p=0.0003) after covariate adjustment. All HLA‐B*14:01 carriers with TMP‐SMX DILI possessed HLA‐C*08:02, another significant allele (p=0.0026). This pattern was supported by HLA‐B*14:01‐HLA‐C*08:02 haplotype association (p=1.33x10‐5). For the African Americans, HLA‐B*35:01 had 2.8‐fold higher frequency in cases than in controls, with five of 10 patients carrying this allele. Molecular docking showed Cys67 in HLA‐B*14:01 and Phe67 in HLA‐B*35:01 to be the predictive binding sites to SMX metabolites. ConclusionHLA‐B*14:01 is associated with TMP‐SMX DILI in European Americans, and HLA‐B*35:01 may be a potential genetic risk factor for African Americans

Association of Liver Injury From Specific Drugs, or Groups of Drugs, With Polymorphisms in HLA and Other Genes in a Genome-Wide Association Study

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic risk factors for druginduced liver injury (DILI) from licensed drugs without previously reported genetic risk factors. METHODS: We performed a GWAS of 862 persons with DILI and 10,588 population-matched controls. The first set of cases was recruited before May 2009 in Europe (n = 137) and the United States (n = 274). The second set of cases were identified from May 2009 through May 2013 from international collaborative studies performed in Europe, the United States, and South America. For the GWAS, we included only cases with patients of European ancestry associated with a particular drug (but not flucloxacillin or amoxicillin-clavulanate). We used DNA samples from all subjects to analyze HLA genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms. After the discovery analysis was concluded, we validated our findings using data from 283 European patients with diagnosis of DILI associated with various drugs. RESULTS: We associated DILI with rs114577328 (a proxy for A* 33: 01 a HLA class I allele; odds ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9 - 3.8; P = 2.4 x 10(-8)) and with rs72631567 on chromosome 2 (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.6 - 2.5; P = 9.7 x 10(-9)). The association with A* 33: 01 was mediated by large effects for terbinafine-, fenofibrate-, and ticlopidine-related DILI. The variant on chromosome 2 was associated with DILI from a variety of drugs. Further phenotypic analysis indicated that the association between DILI and A* 33: 01 was significant genome wide for cholestatic and mixed DILI, but not for hepatocellular DILI; the polymorphism on chromosome 2 was associated with cholestatic and mixed DILI as well as hepatocellular DILI. We identified an association between rs28521457 (within the lipopolysaccharide-responsive vesicle trafficking, beach and anchor containing gene) and only hepatocellular DILI (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.6 - 2.7; P = 4.8 x 10(-9)). We did not associate any specific drug classes with genetic polymorphisms, except for statin-associated DILI, which was associated with rs116561224 on chromosome 18 (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 3.0 - 9.5; P = 7.1 x 10(-9)). We validated the association between A* 33: 01 terbinafine-and sertraline-induced DILI. We could not validate the association between DILI and rs72631567, rs28521457, or rs116561224. CONCLUSIONS: In a GWAS of persons of European descent with DILI, we associated HLA-A* 33: 01 with DILI due to terbinafine and possibly fenofibrate and ticlopidine. We identified polymorphisms that appear to be associated with DILI from statins, as well as 2 non-drug-specific risk factors.Peer reviewe

A Missense Variant in PTPN22 is a Risk Factor for Drug-induced Liver Injury

Background & Aims We performed genetic analyses of a multiethnic cohort of patients with idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) to identify variants associated with susceptibility. Methods We performed a genome-wide association study of 2048 individuals with DILI (cases) and 12,429 individuals without (controls). Our analysis included subjects of European (1806 cases and 10,397 controls), African American (133 cases and 1,314 controls), and Hispanic (109 cases and 718 controls) ancestry. We analyzed DNA from 113 Icelandic cases and 239,304 controls to validate our findings. Results We associated idiosyncratic DILI with rs2476601, a nonsynonymous polymorphism that encodes a substitution of tryptophan with arginine in the protein tyrosine phosphatase, nonreceptor type 22 gene (PTPN22) (odds ratio [OR] 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28–1.62; P = 1.2 × 10–9 and replicated the finding in the validation set (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.09–1.99; P = .01). The minor allele frequency showed the same effect size (OR > 1) among ethnic groups. The strongest association was with amoxicillin and clavulanate-associated DILI in persons of European ancestry (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.32–1.98; P = 4.0 × 10–6; allele frequency = 13.3%), but the polymorphism was associated with DILI of other causes (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.21–1.56; P = 1.5 × 10–6; allele frequency = 11.5%). Among amoxicillin- and clavulanate-associated cases of European ancestry, rs2476601 doubled the risk for DILI among those with the HLA risk alleles A*02:01 and DRB1*15:01. Conclusions In a genome-wide association study, we identified rs2476601 in PTPN22 as a non-HLA variant that associates with risk of liver injury caused by multiple drugs and validated our finding in a separate cohort. This variant has been associated with increased risk of autoimmune diseases, providing support for the concept that alterations in immune regulation contribute to idiosyncratic DILI

Cytokine profiles in acute liver injury-Results from the US Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) and the Acute Liver Failure Study Group.

Changes in levels of cytokines and chemokines have been proposed as possible biomarkers of tissue injury, including liver injury due to drugs. Recently, in acute drug-induced liver injury (DILI), we showed that 19 of 27 immune analytes were differentially expressed and that disparate patterns of immune responses were evident. Lower values of serum albumin (< 2.8 g/dL) and lower levels of only four analytes, namely, IL-9, IL-17, PDGF-bb, and RANTES, were highly predictive of early death [accuracy = 96%]. The goals of this study were to assess levels of the same 27 immune analytes in larger numbers of subjects to learn whether the earlier findings would be confirmed in new and larger cohorts of subjects, compared with a new cohort of healthy controls. We studied 127 subjects with acute DILI enrolled into the US DILIN. We also studied 118 subjects with severe acute liver injury of diverse etiologies, enrolled into the ALF SG registry of subjects. Controls comprised 63 de-identified subjects with no history of liver disease and normal liver tests. Analytes associated with poor outcomes [death before 6 months, n = 32 of the total of 232 non-acetaminophen (Apap) subjects], were lower serum albumin [2.6 vs 3.0 g/dL] and RANTES [6,458 vs 8,999 pg/mL] but higher levels of IL-6 [41 vs 18], IL-8 [78 vs 48], and MELD scores [30 vs 24]. Similar patterns were observed for outcome of death/liver transplant within 6 months. A model that included only serum albumin < 2.8 g/dL and RANTES below its median value of 11,349 had 83% (or 81%) accuracy for predicting early death (or early death/liver transplant) in 127 subjects from DILIN. No patterns of serum immune analytes were reflective of the etiologies of acute liver failure, but there were cytokine patterns that predicted prognosis in both acute DILI and ALF

Correction: Cytokine profiles in acute liver injury-Results from the US Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) and the Acute Liver Failure Study Group.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206389.]